This invention relates to an apparatus and method for non-destructively inspecting various bodies for discontinuities, such as flaws or internal features such as organs in the human body.
It is known that ultrasonics can be utilized for detecting flaws using conventional pulse echo techniques. As a result, portable thickness meters, flaw detectors, etc., are now available. Some of these devices employ extensive and expensive electronic circuitry to scan a body and build up an electronic image. However, these devices do not enable the user to readily and economically visualize the flaw as a picture.
Furthermore, there has recently been developed and disclosed a technique for inspecting bodies which are immersed in a liquid medium, by passing ultrasonic energy through the object to be examined and receiving that energy on a liquid crystal display.
U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 232,247, filed Feb. 6, 1981 discloses such a device. That devices includes an improved liquid crystal cell for receiving and displaying the ultrasonic energy.
Disclosures concerning ultrasonic techniques in general include Gooberman's text entitled Ultrasonics Theory and Application, published by E. U. P. Limited .sctn.11 "Miscellaneous Applications on Ultrasonics", subsection 1.2 "Flaw Detection". Disclosures relating to liquid crystals may be found in the publication by E. Merck or Darmstadt, Germany, entitled Licristal--Liquid Crystals; and in texts by de Genness, Physics of Liquid Crystals, Oxford University Press, 1974, and S. Chandrasekar, Liquid Crystals, Cambridge University Press, 1978. Reference is also made to "Acousto-Hydrodynamics Effects In Liquid Crystals" authored by J. S. Sandhu, W. G. B. Britton and R. W. B. Stephens, Physics Department, Chelsea College, London, United Kingdom. Finally, there are several patents which deal with related ultrasonic technology. See for example, Dreyer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,954; Kessler, U.S. Pat. No. 3,707,323; Gregus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,434; and Brenden, U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,989.
However, none of these references solve the problem of inspecting a large body, which cannot be immersed in a liquid bath, for internal flaws or features, and for providing a visual picture of those flaws or features.
It is therefore the object of this invention to provide a portable device which permits inspection of large bodies for internal flaws or features without immersing the body in a liquid bath and which provides a visual image of the flaw.
Furthermore, one of the problems in the medical field has been to provide a suitable non-invasive diagnostic technique for internal human examination. Presently ultrasonics is used for internal human examination, but the apparatus which is used is large, includes extensive costly electronics, and is not portable. Thus the patient must be brought to the ultrasonic testing device rather than the device being carried by a physician to the patient. Moreover, the electronics is required to provide a visual image of the area being examined due to the present state of the technology.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a portable ultrasonic device which permits internal human examination and which can be carried by a physician to the patient.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following specification and appended claims.